Thousands of refugees from Syria stream into the northern part of Iraq Sunday. The Syrian refugees move in with their belongings to find a new home in Iraq.

Authorities reported over 5,000 refugees arriving from Syria. They crossed the Sahela border to enter Iraq. Reports said that there are many more to do the same in the near future. According to Claire Bourgeois, there is a river of people streaming in. The UNHCR representative based in Iraq said that Sahela staff of the UN refugee team reported this extraordinary occurrence.

Bourgeois added that the number of Syrians crossing the border is extremely significant. This is an unprecedented occurrence. Nothing similar has been witnessed before by UNHCR. Over 10,000 refugees moved across the Tigris River through the Peshkhabour bridge Saturday as many Syrians continue to flee their country.

Several refugees said that the reason they left the country is the increasing tension in Syria resulting from armed group movements. The northern part of Syria which includes Aleppo, Efrin, Qamishly and Hassake has fallen prey to the violence in the country.

Over 15,000 Syrian refugees entered Iraq crossing the border in the last 7 days. They moved over the the Tigris to enter the northern part of Iraq. The number of Syrians in Iraq is bound to increase significantly as around 154,000 names have already been registered in the list of refugees from Syria in Iraq.

Shelters have been established by UNHCR as well as its partners. These shelters are formed with tarpaulins made of plastic. These are placed both at the Peshkhabour and at the Sahela borders to protect Syrian refugees from the heat and the sun. These shelters were extremely useful as the refugees must wait for transport coming from border areas. These vehicles are provided by by the International Organisation for Migration.

It is going to be interesting to watch the government policies of Iraq. It is also worth watching the trends if Iraq is going to allow the increasing number of refugees into the country, as Iraq already got its own issues that need serious consideration.